Police Department Offices Temporarily Relocated

San Rafael, CA – June 26, 2012. The San Rafael Police Department is on the move this week, temporarily relocating some of its operations while energy efficient improvements are made to City Hall.

The police department’s public counter, records unit, support functions, and staff offices will move into two trailers located in the police parking lot at City Hall. The police lobby in lower City Hall will be closed and signs will direct the public to the new lobby that is accessed from C Street. Placing the trailers required the removal of all vehicles and equipment from the police lot and moving them to the upper level of the City’s public parking lot at Fifth and C Streets. The top level of the lot is now restricted to authorized vehicles only. In order to accommodate the move, the office will be closed to the public on Friday June 29th. The office will re-open for business in the new location on Monday, July 2nd. The public hours will remain the same, Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

The City’s Public Works Department began work on this project in 2008 in order to provide a much-needed upgrade of the City Hall heating, venting, and air conditioning system. The building, which was constructed in 1965, has had difficulty over the years providing adequate heating and cooling, especially to the first floor. The $1.35 million dollar project is being funded by a combination of funding sources, including a Department of Energy block grant and a zero interest loan from PG&E. A public bid process in May yielded 3 bids and last week the City Council awarded the contract to the lowest responsive bidder, Trahan Mechanical, Inc. of San Rafael, a local contractor.

In addition to cost savings of over $10,000 per year, the City will realize significant reductions in energy use and emissions. This new system is much more efficient than the old one and will show an approximate reduction in greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) of over 25,000 pounds of carbon annually. That’s the equivalent of taking 4.5 cars off the road. Additional unknown reductions will result due to more efficient transfer of refrigerant, which is an extremely potent form of GHG emission. These reductions are part of the City’s goal to reduce its GHG emissions 25% by the year 2020, and 80% by 2050.

Construction is scheduled to begin on July 6th and the entire project is anticipated to take four months to complete.